Tennis no Mamushi
by Gaaraxluvr
Summary: Everyone knows the story of Seigaku's Prince of Tennis, but what about that of it's Viper? Follow Kaidou Kaoru and experience the Prince of Tennis saga from his perspective.  Possible KaidouXOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Tennis no Mamushi**

**"The Viper of Tennis"**

**Chapter 1: Awakening of the Viper**

**Setting: Episode 9**

* * *

7:20 was what the alarm clock read as it blared out a wakeup call. The noise filled the small bedroom, but that room's usual occupant was already long gone. Still, the ringing alarm continued for several minutes. There were footsteps outside in the hallway eventually, and a man opened the sliding door to discover what the source of the clamor was. He walked in and turned off the alarm.

"Honey?" the man called.

"Yes dear?" a female voice answered.

"Where's Kai-chan?"

A pretty woman walked into the room. "You didn't know? Today is the day when the regulars are announced. He got really excited, so he woke up and left nearly an hour ago," she said with a smile.

The man chuckled to himself, "I see…Seigaku regulars, huh?"

* * *

Kaidou Kaoru found himself traveling at a fast march as the entrance of Seishun Academy came into sight. He was trying his best not to break out into a full run to the tennis courts. His breathing was quick with anticipation, and out of habit turned into a long, rasping hiss. His gaze was focused intently in the direction of the tennis courts that he was now making a beeline for.

A particular group of freshmen were standing around when they noticed him barreling towards them, glaring and hissing. The trio screamed and scattered out of his way. Kaidou didn't even notice. He turned the corner and kept going.

"S-scary," said a very shaken Horio, "Kaidou-sempai is in an even worse mood than normal."

"Yeah," Kato agreed, "do you think it's because he lost to Ryoma the other day?"

It was true that the new freshman was part of the reason behind Kaidou's anxiety. The fact that a freshman had beaten him was humiliating. The bright side was that the same freshman had also defeated Momoshiro and Inui, making it so he didn't look like a total loser. He'd grudgingly admitted to himself that the freshman, Ryoma Echizen, was really good at tennis, but his arrogant attitude made Kaidou want to break his nose.

The real problem was that because the freshman had bested not only him but two other juniors, he already had as good as secured a spot for himself among the regulars. Tezuka was captain, and Fuji, Oishi, Kawamura, and Kikumaru would definitely be selected this year, which meant that there were only two slots left between him, Momoshiro, and Inui. Someone was going to be kicked.

He finally arrived at the bulletin board and scanned until he found the list of regulars.

Captain: Tezuka Kunimitsu

Regulars:

Fuji Shusuke

Oishi Shuichiro

Kikumaru Eiji

Kawamura Takashi

Ryoma Echizen

Momoshiro Takeshi

Kaidou Kaoru

He hissed a sigh of relief (sending several freshmen who hadn't realized he was behind them running in fear) and walked onto a tennis court to begin morning warm-ups.

"Good morning," a familiar voice greeted him as he started doing pushups. A person with a white T-shirt, green sweat pants, and thick rimmed glasses was sitting on a bench to Kaidou's left, the pen in his hand scratching notes and subtexts onto the notebook in his lap.

"Yeah," Kaidou replied. Inui was one of the few people who was completely neutral towards him, neither afraid not constantly trying to pick a fight. Kaidou was rather proud of himself for defeating Inui's "data-style" tennis the previous day. It was an annoying style unique to Inui who excelled in analyzing an opponent's strengths and weaknesses, but not without its flaws. After all, Inui not only had to find an opponent's weakness but be able to match the speed, stamina, strength, and precision he had calculated would be able to defeat them.

As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Inui said, "That was a great match the other day. It's unfortunate that my stamina wasn't great enough, but I've devised a training regimen that should improve that satisfactorily in about 2 weeks time."

Kaidou gritted his teeth in frustration. Inui had started playing tennis years after him but managed to improve rapidly with his "training schedules." He wouldn't admit it, but he was jealous of Inui's ability to analyze his personal weak areas and train robotically to overcome them. Kaidou wondered if Inui was angry that he was defeated and was planning to out-train him and steal back the spot on the team. Could he do that? Kaidou started doing the push-ups a little more vigorously than he had before.

"So," Kaidou grunted, "What are you going to do now?"

"Actually, Ryuzaki-sensei offered me the position of team manager," Inui replied, "I'll be in charge of practices and training for the regulars.

This took Kaidou by surprise. If Inui was going to be managing the team, that could mean a chance for him to try one of Inui's "training schedules." He wondered at how quickly he could improve with one of the special programs. The thought was exciting. Of course, if it was group training, the other regulars would be doing the same exercises.

_I'll work twice as hard as any of them,_ he thought.

"Yo! Kaidou!" Momoshiro called from the side of the court. He was waving his arms with over exaggerated gusto and wearing a big, stupid grin on his face. Gathered around him were a group of freshmen.

_Trying to show off_, Kaidou glowered.

"You wanna pick a fight?" he hissed.

To Kaidou's satisfaction, the freshmen seemed worried.

"Haha, don't worry about him," Momoshiro laughed, "he's just got his shorts in a twist because he lost to a freshman."

The vein on Kaidou's forehead started bulging, "And just who else lost to the same freshman?" he replied.

"Oh please," growled Momo, "if my leg had been fully healed, I would have wiped the floor with Echizen."

"You're asking for it now," Kaidou snarled.

"Oh yeah? And who's going to give it to me?" challenge Momoshiro.

"You-"

"Oy oy! Break it up you two! Morning warm-ups are over, classes are about to start," Ryuzaki-sensei said, placing herself between the two of them.

Kaidou hissed in frustration and grabbed his bags.

_You got lucky this time, you bothersome ape._

* * *

Kaidou walked quietly through the halls to his homeroom class, all the other students keeping as far from him as physically possible in the cramped space. He pondered to himself that it was because of jerks like Momoshiro that he had started acting the way he did: like a viper.

He had transferred to Seishun Academy two years ago when his father had gotten a new job. The friends at his old school that he had known since he was a kid lived too far away now for him to see regularly, and he had lost contact with many of them. Because they had grown up together, his friends had gotten used to the thing that had gotten him into so much trouble at Seishun: his face. If Kaidou wasn't smiling, he had a face that turned into a natural scowl. As a result, he ended up looking brooding and angry, even though he usually wasn't.

Kaidou slid open the door of his first period class. Several students inched away.

"G-g-good morning," Saki, one of his classmates, stammered. As he turned to look at her, she flinched.

He sighed inwardly at her reaction and grunted in reply, then turned to take his seat. From his spot by the window, he could see the tennis courts. As he watched some of the club members picking up the remaining balls on the court, he thought back to his first day at Seigaku.

* * *

He was standing outside the gate of one court, watching a heated match unfold between Tezuka, a sophomore, and a junior who was a runner-up regular. The junior was good, but Tezuka was still crushing him. In a matter of minutes, the match was finished. Tezuka had barely broken a sweat.

Kaidou knew right away that he wanted to join Seigaku's tennis club. Back at his old school, he and his friends would always head to the tennis courts after classes and play each other. He had been pretty good at tennis back then, and it brought back fond memories of his old home.

A voice behind Kaidou snapped him out of his reverie.

"Did you enjoy the match earlier?"

He turned around and discovered the sophomore he'd been watching before was behind him, Tezuka.

"Yeah!" Kaidou smiled, "you were really good to beat a junior like that. I enjoyed watching your match a lot."

"That's good," said Tezuka, "I couldn't help but notice you watching and realized that you aren't in the tennis club. In fact, I've never seen you around here before."

"That's right," Kaidou replied, "I'm new here. I just got transferred to Seishun a few days ago."

"And you like tennis?"

"Yeah, I used to play all the time with my friends at my old school. I'm thinking of joining the club here."

Tezuka smiled, "Sounds good. New members are always welcome here-"

"Hey, You!" yelled a voice behind Kaidou. It was the junior Tezuka had beaten earlier and two of his friends. They didn't look happy.

Kaidou's smile fell into a frown of concern.

"Don't be getting too cocky, sophomore," he said to Tezuka, "You got really lucky in that match, and I was taking it easy on you anyway."

"I'll take you on again if you like," Tezuka replied. His calmness made the junior angrier.

"Why you-" his gaze fell oh Kaidou, whose frown he mistook for a scowl.

"Who do you think you're looking at like that, huh freshman!?"

The sudden burst of anger directed at him caught Kaidou off guard, and he froze. The furious junior grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him against the chain link fence of the tennis court.

"Am I going to have to wipe that arrogant look off your face?"

Before Kaidou could answer, the coach who had been watching intervened.

"Hey! Put that freshman down. I'm not going to have any trouble from you lot or you'll be running laps until your feet bleed."

The junior gritted his teeth and dropped Kaidou, who fell to the ground and landed on his back.

"Don't think you're off the hook that easily," whispered the junior only loud enough that Kaidou and Tezuka could hear. Then without another word, he and his cronies stalked off.

Tezuka, who had been standing by about to defend Kaidou instead offered him a hand, which Kaidou gratefully accepted.

"Why did he get angry at me like that?" he said, still shaken.

"He thought you were glaring at him," said Tezuka.

"But I wasn't!"

"I know. I could tell, but they got the wrong idea. Don't worry about them though. They'll have forgotten by tomorrow."

If only that had been true.

As Tezuka said this, the coach walked up to the two of them.

"Sorry young man," he said, addressing Kaidou, "I always have a problem with my junior and senior members hazing freshmen." He turned to Tezuka, "That was an impressive match, Tezuka. Keep up the good work and you could be Seigaku's captain one day."

"Thank you, sensei," Tezuka replied, bowing.

"Well, I have to go see to the regulars," he said, turning.

"One moment please, sir," Tezuka said and turned to Kaidou, "Didn't you say you wanted to join the tennis club?"

"Really?" said the coach, "that's excellent; if you like I can go right ahead and sign you up."

"Is that really ok?" Kaidou asked.

"Of course! No problem. I can get you started today if you like."

Kaidou smiled broadly, "Really? Thank you!"

He spent the rest of the afternoon practicing with the other freshmen, who were relatively impressed with the tennis ability he already had. It was lots of fun, and he was popular being the new kid at school.

"That's nothing," bragged another freshman whose name he later learned was Momoshiro, "Watch my super smash!"

The two of them ended up playing a match together. It was tied 3-3 when practice ended. Since they were freshmen, they had to pick up the balls and tidy up the courts for the next day's practice.

"You're pretty good I guess," jeered Momoshiro, "but tomorrow we'll finish our match and I'll beat you for sure!"

"Not a chance," Kaidou chuckled.

With the fields tidied up, the students began heading home. Kaidou got his things together and started for the exit too. On his way out, he bumped into Tezuka again.

"Hi," said Tezuka, "how was your first day?"

"Great," Kaidou replied, "thanks for helping me out earlier."

"Don't mention it."

As he walked through the streets on his way home he thought about the kind sophomore who was better at tennis than most juniors and a primary candidate to be Captain of the tennis club one day.

_If I manage to get onto the tennis team by the time I'm a junior_, he thought_, Tezuka could end up being my captain._

He was so lost in thought he didn't notice the shadows the setting sun cast over him as three figures approached him from behind.

"_Well look what we have here,"_

Kaidou gasped and turned around. Behind him were the three juniors from earlier. Without him realizing it, his face was again an accidental scowl. The junior was instantly reminded of earlier and his rage came back at once.

"Think you can smart off to me and get away with it, do you!? Fat chance!"

Before he could say anything in his defense, startled as he was, the junior delivered a powerful punch to his jaw, knocking him off his feet and sending him sprawling on the ground. The two cronies laughed in unison.

Kaidou was insensible for a moment, but perceived something warm trickling down his lip. _Blood_. He blanched. It tasted like salt and iron. The junior's punch had busted his lip and it began to swell badly.

"What? Is that all the fight you have in you, punk?" the junior laughed, "I thought for all your tough act you'd at least have some guts to back it up."

The pain in Kaidou's jaw caused him a sharp intake of breath, but when he breathed out, his swollen lip caused it to sound like a hiss. The juniors laughed some more.

"Hey hey, did you hear that, Haru?" one of the cronies chortled, "He hissed like a snake."

"Yeah, I did," said the one who had punched him, who was apparently Haru, "Not so tough now, are you snakey?"

They had another laugh. A passerby might have observed that these juniors seemed to have nothing better to do than beating up defenseless freshmen, but sadly there were none there to take note of this or come to Kaidou's aid.

"L-leabe me alone," he said as well as he could with his bloody lip.

"Not before I get one for the road," said Haru, and his fist flew again towards Kaidou's face.

* * *

Kaidou had been watching his house through a deeply purple eye for five minutes, looking for any sign of movement inside. So far there had been none, but he wanted to make absolutely sure the coast was clear before heading inside. His father should be away at work, and hopefully his mother would be out trying to bring another load of furniture and their possessions over. That only left his younger brother, Hazue, that might spot him. His plan was simple. He would run inside and lock himself up in his room, refuse dinner, and act like everything was normal. Then, when the next day came, he would probably skip school to avoid having anyone seeing him with a busted lip and highly blackened eye.

Eventually, he worked up the nerve and went inside his house. It ended up badly though, because Hazue came around the corner right at that moment and saw him.

"Hey big bro-…huh!? Kaidou-oniisan, what happened to your eye and lip? Are you ok? Should I get the first aid kit? Wait here, I'll call mom-"

"No no!" Kaidou said, stopping him in his tracks. Don't worry about it. I'm fine.

"Really?" Hazue asked, "but it looks pretty bad….what happened?"

"I uh….I was really clumsy," said Kaidou, improvising, "I joined the tennis club today and was holding a bucket full of tennis balls, but I slipped on one and fell down…..a flight of stairs."

"Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said, "I'll take care of the first aid myself….don't tell Mom and Dad, ok? It's our secret."

"Ok!" Hazue agreed. He liked secrets.

Later, Kaidou sat up in bed trying to go to sleep. Hazue had dutifully kept it a secret that he was injured and even brought some food up to his room, giving their parents the excuse that Kaidou was too busy with homework at his new school to eat with the rest of them that night. Luckily, his mother Hozumi and his father Shibuki were too busy with their own problems to inquire further. The pay at the company Kaidou's father was now working at was much better than that at his previous job, but consequently the work was also much harder, and seeing as he was just starting out, his boss had warned him that his first week would be very stressful before he got the hang of things. As for his mother, she was still getting the last of their possessions from their old home transferred and working on the final touches to make it ready for the new family to move in. Thus, most of her time every day had been spent back and forth between their new house and old one. When the two of them got home every day, they were exhausted and in need of lots of rest. Kaidou was ashamed that he'd already gotten into trouble in Seishun Academy after his first few days. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He didn't want to admit this to his parents who were working so hard to stabilize life in their new home, and this was the reason that he kept the fight a secret. For now, until things got better, he would just have to deal with school problems himself.

"Snake," Kaidou murmured as he lay awake in bed that night. That was what the junior Haru had called him.

Kaidou liked snakes. They weren't bad like everyone seemed to think. Sure, snakes were dangerous, so everyone feared them, but they weren't unnecessarily violent. It was highly rare for anyone to be bitten by a snake that wasn't either provoking it, hurting it, or otherwise had startled it accidentally. In reality, snakes were actually peaceful, minding their own business out of the way of people whenever possible. Yet, they were still constantly persecuted just because they _could_ do people harm. Being a snake meant you would automatically be hated. Kaidou was angry at the unfairness of it all.

* * *

That morning, Kaidou got up and left early before his parents could wake up, just like he had planned. He wandered around his neighborhood aimlessly, debating whether to go to school and risk further abuse or skip. Of course, if he skipped, the school would inevitably call his parents who would question him when he got home until they got to the bottom of it. He sucked his lip in and hoped that his black eye wouldn't be noticeable.

It was.

The whole day he could feel the eyes of all his classmates and teachers boring down on him like drills.

"Did he get into a fight?"

"Maybe he's part of a gang?"

"Was he robbed?"

Kaidou's skin prickled uncomfortably. All the extra attention made him nervous.

_What if a bunch of rumors get started? Could they make it back to his parents?_

As his anxiety grew, he began breathing through his mouth, resulting in more hissing like from the other day. He didn't notice.

Eventually, the academics for the day were finished and it was time for club activities. Kaidou had been dreading this. He made for the group of freshmen, keeping his head down and hoping he wouldn't be spotted.

He was.

"Well, if it isn't Snakey."

Kaidou froze

Behind him was the junior, Haru, who'd busted his lip as well as a his two cronies. There was a mocking smirk on his face.

"Come to play tennis? Or maybe you wanted me to blacken your other eye so you can be a panda instead."

"Leave him alone," said Tezuka, appearig beside Kaidou.

"Hey hey, you have no business bossing us around, Tezuka-chan," one of the cronies scoffed, "Sensei's not here to protect you today."

With a jolt, Kaidou realized they were right. The group had strategically ambushed him on the far end of the tennis courts away from the view of the coach's office.

"It's pitiful to take out your anger on younger students," Tezuka replied, "Leave him alone."

Kaidou couldn't believe Tezuka's bravery: one lone sophomore us against a group of juniors just to stand up for a freshman whom he'd met the other day.

The juniors weren't having it though.

"Oh yeah?" one said, "How about you get some then, Mr. Know-it-all?"

The next second, Haru smashed his fist into Tezuka's face. Tezuka crumpled to the ground under the weight of his blow.

"No!" Kaidou yelled. Suddenly, he felt some part of him snap, and realize that he was angrier right then than he'd ever been before. Then, everything in his vision was blotted out with red.

He was no longer Kaidou Kaoru. He was a viper, one who had been stepped on for no reason. His fists were poison tipped fangs sinking into his and Tezuka's assailant. . .

* * *

When he regained his senses, he had one hand on the collar of the junior that had punched Tezuka who was now on the ground with a very bloody face and a broken nose. His other fist was raised in the air, covered in blood and ready to strike if it weren't for the hand that was holding it back. It was Tezuka.

"Have you regained your senses?" he asked.

Kaidou was in shock. He looked around to see that the cronies were in a similar state, lying on the ground bloody and with bruises developing.

"I. . .did this?" he gasped.

"Yeah," said Tezuka, "you went berserk after Haru punched me."

Seeing that he no longer needed to be restrained, Tezuka dropped Kaidou's arm, which fell limply to his side.

"Hey!! What's all this commotion!?" yelled the voice of the coach. Kaidou looked up and gasped. He hadn't realized it before, but a number of students had gathered around and were looking at him with shocked expressions. At that moment, the coach entered from a gap in the crowd and beheld the sight in front of him.

"Tezuka? Kaidou?" He looked at the bloody juniors unconscious on the ground and yelled, "What is the meaning of this!?"

Tezuka stepped forward, "Sensei, I'll explain."

"You bet you will," he threatened, "but first things first." He turned to the group of students that had gathered around, "One of you go get the nurse! Tell here there's a group of students injured by court three. You lot there! Try to help them up to the infirmary. Everyone else go back to what you were doing before, except you two," he said, turning on Tezuka and Kaidou, "You're coming with me to my office."

Kaidou felt horrible and afraid. Somehow he'd lost it and ended up mauling a group of juniors. Sure, he felt that it was well justified, but how was he going to explain this to his parents? The first thing the coach was sure to do was call them and inform them he'd been in a fight at school. He couldn't let that happen, especially since this was only his fourth day of school here. Plus, what had happened? He didn't remember fighting those juniors at all. Could he really just snap like that and not remember it? That thought scared him.

As soon as they reached the coach's office and the door was safely shut behind them Kaidou began,

"Sensei? P-please hear me out. I know I was wrong to attack those guys, and I'll take any punishment you give me without complaint, but I'm begging you. Please don't tell my parents."

The coach sighed, "If I haven't heard this a thousand times. Let me guess, 'my parents will ground me forever' right?"

"N-no, that's not it at all. I'm sure they'd actually be really understanding, but you see, we just moved here. My father got a new job working for a large company and had been stressed settling in, and my mother's been so busy trying to get us moved into the house completely. They hardly have a free moment, and I really don't want them to face any more trouble on my account. Please. . ."

He had been staring at his feet throughout his explanation, but afterwards he chanced to look up at the coach when he received no reply. The man's expression had changed from angry to contemplating.

"If I may," Tezuka asserted, "Kaidou was standing up for me as well as for himself. Haru and his friends were harassing Kaidou again like the other day. I stepped in to try to stop them and Haru got angry and punched me. After that-"

"Let me guess," the coach interrupted, "you came to his defense and beat the snot of those boys?" he said, pointing at Kaidou.

"More or less," Tezuka resumed, "but he didn't seem to have any control of his actions at the time."

Kaidou could feel his face turning red. He inwardly cursed himself for losing control of his anger and snapping like that. He looked back at the coach who was staring thoughtfully now.

"I guess I understand the situation, more or less," he said, "and I feel bad for you, but at the same time, I can't just let this go unpunished. Haru and his troupe got beat up pretty badly. He might even have to go to the hospital."

Kaidou winced.

The coach sighed, "As punishment, Kaidou, you're running 30 laps around the courts today after practice. You too, Tezuka, for not coming to me about this. . . In return, I won't tell your parents, Kaidou."

He had hardly been able to believe his good fortune.

"Thank you, sensei" he and Tezuka said simultaneously.

"Yes yes, but I expect for you two to behave from now on! No more fights or next time I won't be so lenient."

As they left the coach's office, Kaidou realized that Tezuka, who hadn't done anything wrong, would have to undergo the same punishment as him.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I ended up dragging you into my problems."

"Nonesense," Tezuka replied, "It was my fault Haru singled you out in the first place."

At that moment, another sophomore walked up to the two of them.

"What was the verdict" the unfamiliar person asked Tezuka.

"Thirty laps around the courts for each of us," Tezuka replied.

"Eh?" he sighed, "That seems a little harsh."

"It's alright, Fuji," Tezuka said, "he knows what he's doing."

"How's your nose?"

"Bleeding, but not broken, I think."

"How about you," he said, turning to Kaidou.

His sharp blue eyes were piercing and caught Kaidou off guard. Fuji noticed and changed to a congenial grin. "Well, good luck to the both of you."

As he turned his back to them and went back to the courts, Kaidou was still surprised. After what had happened, he'd been expecting a less kind reception from the other students.

"_How's your nose?"_ he remembered Fuji asking Tezuka.

_Maybe he'd seen what was going on before I lost it?_

He mused over this while heading to the court where the freshmen were to practice. Suddenly, the tennis area seemed rather deserted. He wondered where everyone had gone. When he got to the freshman court, the others were practicing their racket strokes and form; however, when he came into view, everyone stopped to stare. Kaidou tried not to blush and let out a sigh (which came out as a hiss of course with his lip still injured). He entered the court trying to act like nothing had happened, and picked up a practice racquet to join the other freshmen. It soon became apparent that they didn't want this. As he got close, it seemed like there was an invisible perimeter around him that no one dared pass. They all backed away, not wanting to be within five feet of him.

Kaidou was a little hurt by this, but didn't show it. He settled for a spot on the outskirts of the group where everyone could keep an eye on him and practiced alone. The rest of the afternoon passed in a similar fashion. Whether it was stretches, swinging practice, running laps, or one-on-one matches, everyone stayed well out of his way. As the practicing became more strenuous, he began panting and couldn't help himself.

"Fshuuu"

The perimeter around him suddenly expanded from five feet to ten.

Only one other freshman seemed unfazed. "Hey! Mamushi!" Momoshiro called out, "Time to finish our match from yesterday, or are you chicken?"

Kaidou was kind of grateful that at least someone was talking to him, but he was annoyed by the nickname "Mamushi" (viper), so he ended up saying,

"Shut up."

Eventually, practice was over and people were starting to leave. It was time to do his punishment laps. He made sure the coach was watching and then began jogging. After a minute, Tezuka caught up and ran beside him.

Thirty laps hadn't seemed so harsh, but after the first three Kaidou was breaking out into a sweat, and by the seventh, he was panting heavily. His legs felt like lead. The full distance around the courts must be about 100 yards, he guessed. By lap nine, he had significantly slowed down. His legs felt like they were on fire, and he was on the verge of collapse. Tezuka was matching his pace. He was sweating only lightly. Kaidou didn't doubt Tezuka could finish, but he could hardly go on…

"Here,"

Kaidou looked up to see Fuji standing beside him. In his outstretched hands were two bottles of water.

Kaidou was confused.

"I thought you might could use a drink," he smiled, "….don't worry. Sensei isn't watching right now."

Kaidou gratefully accepted the water, and Fuji handed the other bottle to Tezuka.

"You stayed behind?" Tezuka asked.

"Yeah," said Fuji, "I feel bad that I wasn't able to do anything earlier about the sempais."

_So he did see the whole thing_, Kaidou thought.

Slightly reinvigorated, he and Tezuka continued on. To Kaidou, each lap seemed to take an hour.

* * *

As they neared the end of their fifteenth lap, the coach stepped out of his office.

"All right you two. That's enough. You can both go home now."

Kaidou panted, "B….but…..we only……did-"

"I know. You did fifteen, Tezuka did fifteen. That adds up to thirty, right? No go home."

* * *

The final bell interrupted Kaidou's thoughts. School that day had been uneventful. Now it was time for afternoon tennis practice.

"50 laps around the court, regulars!"

Kaidou hissed, amused that he used to not be able to do even thirty laps. Now he could do that much and barely break a sweat.

Practice was more or less the same as normal. The work for regulars was a bit more extensive than before, but Kaidou enjoyed the added challenge. During the day, Kaidou noticed Inui scribbling more notes in his book. Curious, he walked over to him, pretending to get a drink and asked nonchalantly, "What are you doing?"

"Just making a few adjustments to the training schedule I'm perfecting. We'll start using it tomorrow," he said without looking up.

Kaidou tried to sneak a peek out of the corner of his eye, but at that moment, Inui closed the book and picked up a beaker filled with an opaque, green liquid that he began to stir.

"What's that?"

Inui's glasses momentarily gleamed in the sunlight and the corner of his mouth turned up in a wicked looking grin.

"_It's a secret_. You'll find out tomorrow."

Suddenly Kaidou felt a little uneasy, but he didn't question any further.

"Hey! Mamushi!" Momoshiro called. Kaidou glared at him.

"What?" he growled.

"Bring some water over here for the REAL regulars, will you? I'm thirsty!"

The forehead vein started bulging again.

"GET IT YOURSELF YOU LAZY MORON!!!"

* * *

With practice over, Kaidou waited by court two, hoping to ambush Inui and trying to assemble in his head the words that would sound casual and detached enough that he wouldn't lose face asking for this favor. Finally, Inui stepped out of the locker room and walked in his direction.

_This is it_, he thought.

Inui initially took no notice of him and was about to pass by.

"H-hey, wait."

He stopped.

"Yes? How can I help you?"

All the ways he'd been thinking of asking Inui got jumbled in his head and came out at once.

"Y-you can…..could you…..you're good at analyzing people…..training schedule-"

At the mention of training, Inui excitedly picked up a clipboard he'd been holding.

"Speaking of training, I just finished what I believe would be an ideal routine for you to follow daily to improve the various aspects of your tennis from the data I've collected from you so far. I would appreciate it if you tried it. It would provide me with a lot of extra data that could improve the accuracy of my calculations exponentially."

Taken aback, Kaidou only managed, "u-uhm…ok."

Inui handed him the clipboard. Attached to it was a sheet rating his all around performance, and behind that were more sheets detailing and prescribing exercises he should do, giving him specific time ranges and combinations to improve the maximum efficiency of the workout as well as recommendations for meals that would substantiate his progress. It was pure gold.

The actual workouts though didn't look particularly challenging. He remembered his thought from earlier.

"I'll do twice this much," he stated.

Pleased with his success, Kaidou jogged home. His mind again wandered back to his freshman year.

* * *

The next day after his incident with Haru, rumors started spreading like wildfire. In two days time, everyone knew about Kaidou Kaoru, the hissing freshman with a scary face who would kill you just as soon as look at you. The new nickname he'd heard people whispering in the hallways was "Viper" (which he knew they'd taken from Momoshiro). Everyone but a few people on the tennis team regarded him fearfully and kept their distance.

At first he disliked this, but found that because of the rumors surrounding him, other juniors and seniors also stayed out of his way whom otherwise might have come after him seeking revenge for Haru.

Eventually, his eye and lip healed, but he got into the habit of going "fshuuuu" when he was annoyed, anxious, or angry. This ended up becoming what people expected of him. Somewhere along the way, he contemplated, he had subconsciously changed his exterior to match everyone's expectations of him. After all, if everyone thinks of you a certain way, you can end up becoming that way in your own mind as well. Thus, he ended up hiding his softer, animal loving, old-Kaidou side.

* * *

As his mind drifted back to his surroundings, he realized that he was approaching the place where Haru and his gang had beaten him up two years ago. To his surprise, he could make out a group of people up ahead, illuminated by the setting sun behind him. As he drew closer, he realized it was a girl, surrounded by a group of four guys.

"Hey! Let me go!" she said. Kaidou recognized it as the voice of Saki, the girl in his class who'd told him good morning.

"Come on Saki," said a guy who was grabbing her wrist, "Stop being such a goody-two-shoes."

"No! Leave me alone!"

"Don't be that way," he said, yanking her towards a questionable looking store. He and the other guys didn't notice as Kaidou's elongated shadow fell across them.

"Hey," he grunted, "Leave her alone."

The four guys turned around.

"Just who are you to-," one of them began, but he froze. Kaidou was purposefully glaring at them.

"Fshuuuuu"

Three of the guys backed away. The one holding Saki held his ground.

"Or what?" he asked dumbly.

Kaidou took a step towards him.

That was all it took. The boy's mask of bravado shattered and he and his friends ran as if for their lives. They pushed past the newly released Saki, knocking her to the ground.

Kaidou watched the hasty retreat of "the assholes" as he'd dubbed them in his mind, hissing again in annoyance. He'd all but forgotten about Saki until he heard a sob to his side.

He looked at her, and wished he hadn't.

Saki was on the ground where the assholes had knocked her down. She'd scraped her knee in the fall and had dust all over her school uniform…..and she was on the verge of tears.

He didn't know what to do. Crying girls boded ill with him. He'd never had to comfort someone before, plus he figured if he tried it would probably make things much worse, but it would feel wrong to just leave her here on the ground crying.

Awkwardly, he offered her his hand and pretended to be looking in another direction. He felt his cheeks grow hot.

Saki sniffed, wiping her eyes, and took it. He pulled her to her feet.

There was an awkward silence.

"U-um…..be more careful," was all Kaidou could think to say, and hurried off at another quick march before she could reply.

"Fshuuuu," _way to go genius,_ he thought, "_be careful", as if she didn't already know that._

As he walked in the front door of his house and took off his shoes, he called, "I'm back."

"Welcome home big brother," Hazue said, coming down the stairs, "How was your day?"

"Fine," sighed Kaidou, passing him on his way upstairs.

Once he reached his room, he flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling for several minutes. He realized he still had Inui's clipboard in his hand.

Kaidou flipped the first page to view the prescribed exercises.

_Mornings: 30 sets of stretches. Jog approximately_ _4 miles_.

He took a pencil and added "x2" to everything.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

It was his mother.

"Good evening, Kai-chan," she said, "How was your day at school?"

"It was good," he replied, "I became a regular today."

"Oh Kai-chan, that's wonderful!" she exclaimed, "Congratulations! To celebrate, I'll make your favorite meal tonight: Yam soba, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Thanks," he smiled. She closed the door back and he continued reading the list. After a while, he grabbed his clock off the table by his bed and reset the alarm time to 6:20 A.M.

**End of Chapter 1**

* * *

**Side Note**: I said this episode took place in episode 9, but if you pay attention, you'll know that in the anime, the regulars were announced the same day as Kaidou and Inui's match. Also, it was the next day afterwards that Inui began taking over training. In other words, this didn't line up perfectly with the anime. In the future, I hope to have it more on the same track, but for the sake of the story please imagine that there was a day inbetween and the regulars were announced then. Also, I'm not really sure whether or not Prince of Tennis has sophomores, or if they just call them freshmen. For the sake of the story, Kaidoh was in 9th grade when he joined the team and thus all the seniors were 10th graders at the time.

* * *

Kaidou: Fshuuu……where the heck am I?

Kari: You're in the chatbox, silly!

Kaidou: Who are you!? And what the heck is a chatbox!

Kari: I'm Kari, Gaaraxluvr's comical alter-ego! And a chatbox is where I pull different characters and talk with them after and sometimes before the fanfic. Since you're the star of this one, we'll start chatting a lot from now on.

Kaidou: Star? What are you talking about?

Kari: *points up*

Kaidou: *reading*…………………………take it down……_**NOW**__._

Kari: Sorry, it's too late. Everyone's already read it.

Kaidou: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Tennis no Mamushi**

"**The Viper of Tennis"**

**Chapter 2: Fearful Green Concoction and Adorable Kittens Spell Doom **

**Setting: Episode 9**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. If I did I would certainly not be posting this story on . Common sense people.

* * *

Kaidou tried vainly not to look as terrified as he felt. The green potion of Inui's seemed to glow ominously in the sunlight. Inui had said it was supposed to be a "vegetable juice" with a special formula meant to "help their physical fitness" but everyone new it was really the punishment for failure. Inui was sadistic like that. Therefore, Kaidou readied himself as the first tennis ball flew his way.

"Red!"

"Blue!"

"Blue!"

"Yellow!"

"Blue!"

To his satisfaction, each ball struck the cone right where he meant it to. It was figuring out which ball was what color that gave him trouble though. _Come on…I just have to get through this…_

"Red!"

Inui smiled and Kaidou knew it was over. Surely enough, the ball had been blue. It was his turn. For the potion.

Everyone so far had immediately run for water, but he was determined not to show any sign of weakness. Inui handed him a tall glass. The green stuff was thick, opaque, and slushy looking.

_Better try to get this over with quickly_.

He tilted his head back and drained the glass in one gulp.

Big mistake.

Puke, boil pus, fish slime, rotten milk, donkey piss, these are as close as you may ever come to understanding what that drink, if it can honestly be called that, tasted like, with the sickly texture somewhere between diarrhea and guacamole. Kaidou knew as soon as he swallowed that he was going to puke. He gave walking away an honest try, but after a couple of seconds he broke into a run like all the rest.

After spending most of the remainder of tennis practice in the bathroom with the other regulars who'd been forced to drink Inui's concoction, Kaidou went on to his morning classes: History, English, and Chemistry. Chemistry in particular had been thoroughly annoying (Momoshiro had spilled iodine all over his favorite bandana, and they'd nearly erupted into a fist fight).

Then it was time for lunch. Kaidou took his normal spot: a small table for two somewhat isolated from the other tables. Usually no one sat with him. The only exceptions were the odd occasions when Inui wasn't practicing some sort of experiment in the science laboratory and came to talk to Kaidou about the analysis of his findings. Also sometimes Momoshiro might pass by and brag about the latest girl he impressed (or so he said) or some other random meaningless achievement that Kaidou was supposed to be impressed about. He never said anything back, which seemed to suite both of them just fine. He supposed they just wanted to have someone listen.

Well….whatever. Most of the time he couldn't understand half of what Inui was talking about and Momo….He thought about the ruined bandana and hissed in frustration…

"Fshuuuuuu..."

_"Eep!"_

Kaidou hadn't realized, but a girl had been standing a few feet away looking at him. It was Saki, the girl from the other day. She had her hands behind her back and looked both flustered and terrified.

"What do you want?" he asked. It came out sounding gruffer than he'd intended.

Saki's face almost immediately turned deep scarlet. He was afraid she might be about to cry. And to make things worse everyone in the lunchroom was now watching them fixedly in utter silence.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After what seemed like an eternity Saki found her voice and stammered,

"Uh…f-for yesterday….um….this i-is…"

She couldn't seem to get anything else out, so she took her hands from behind her back. Saki was holding a small box with a little red bow on it. Bowing forward respectfully with her eyes on the floor, she offered it to him.

_Silence…._

"What is it?" Kaidou asked dumbly.

"C-chocolates…I made them myself."

"I don't eat chocolates," he blurted out like an idiot. Now he wanted to punch himself.

Saki didn't move. Her face was beet red now. Everyone was staring at the spectacle with bated breath. Remembering how shy and insecure Saki normally acted, Kaidou guessed she was both panic-stricken and terrified right now.

_I guess I have to make a move then…_

Shifting uncomfortably he stood up, noticing Saki cringe a little. He felt his face growing hot as he reached out and took the box, so he tried looking away. Saki, eyes still on the floor hadn't moved.

"Um…thanks," Kaidou muttered.

This seemed to rouse her. She nodded and turned to leave.

_SPLAT._

Some careless student (probably a jerk like Momo) had spilled their drink in the middle of the floor and didn't clean it up. Poor Saki had the misfortune of trying to walk right through it and fell straight forward on her face.

"Oh no, Saki!" said another junior, Miko. She ran over and helped her up. Then the two of them scurried out of the room. Several obnoxious guys in the back of the cafeteria laughed until Kaidou silenced them with an unrestrained death glare.

He then sat back down, placing the small box in his backpack and returning to his meal. In a couple of minutes, people tentatively began conversing again.

Later that afternoon at tennis practice, Inui continued to work the regulars relentlessly. Kaidou did his best to keep to the double quota he'd chosen for himself.

Before everyone went home, it was announced that their first match would be coming up soon. They would be against a school from last year called Fudomine. After finishing the last of the wind-down laps, he went to the locker room to grab his stuff.

Waiting for him was the one face in particular he didn't want to see.

"Oooh. Kaaaaai-Dooooouu," Momo sang.

Great. Kaidou could feel the vein starting up. He attempted to pass Momo by, but the big ape jumped in front of him, blocking his way.

Momoshiro grinned, "So, I saw Saki and you in the cafeteria today. What was in the box huh? And why was she giving it to you?"

"Shut up and move monkey boy."

"Oh come on, tell me! What was it for? Is it your birthday or something? A love confession!"

Kaidou turned the death glare on him fully. Damn it. Why did Momo have to be one of the only ones it didn't work on?

He shoved Momo out of the way and gathered his stuff while the pest continued to question him vainly. As he was finally about to make it out the door, Momo gasped theatrically.

"I-it couldn't be," Momoshiro stammered, "You couldn't…you wouldn't _blackmail_ Saki into giving you stuff would you." The look on his face was positively scandalized.

That did it. Kaidou snapped. He flew after Momo threatening to beat him to a pulp. Of course, Momoshiro took this to mean he had guessed correctly and continued to incite Kaidou's wrath by telling saying he was going to tell everyone Kaidou was indeed blackmailing Saki. Coach Ryuzaki came in to break up the fight and Momo was smart enough to escape before Kaidou could grab him.

"What have I told you all about fighting?" she said, addressing the remaining tennis players.

"Fshuuu…."

Kaidou jogged all the way to his house, then jogged some more around his neighborhood. Inui had advised him that building up his stamina was what he really needed. It had, after all, been what had caused him his loss against Echizen. That tweaked enough of a nerve to make him pick up the pace.

He arrived at home around sunset. Hazue and his mother welcomed him back enthusiastically.

As he went to get started on the homework he'd been assigned, he rediscovered the little box from Saki. Curious, he opened it, shuddering when he saw what was inside.

There in the box were four little kittens made of chocolate. Each one was unique and intricately detailed.

One was sitting up straight with its fluffy tail wrapped around its legs. It looked up as innocently as an angel.

Another was standing posed with one paw lifted and extended as if to swat at an invisible toy. Its mouth was slightly open as if it were meowing.

The next two were smiling and rubbing against each other cheek to cheek. Both of their tails were entwined. It looked like they were hugging.

The little cats had yellow, blue, and green eyes made of icing. One was completely covered in powdered sugar that made it look white and fluffy. Another had a little pink bow with a bell tied around its neck. They even had little whiskers and eyebrows made out of candy.

When he looked at it the whole little set seemed to sparkle.

It was disgustingly adorable.

He loved it.

The next several minutes were spent in admiration of the tiny animals sculpted of candy. Kaidou even took a few pictures of them with his digital camera. He only wished he could keep them permanently, but knew the chocolate would spoil eventually. Someone would have to eat them. It would be a pity if they went to waste.

That night after supper he showed them to his family. He gave his parents the two cats who were hugging each other and Hazue got the other two to himself.

"Wow…this is the best chocolate I've ever tasted!" Hazue said. Kaidou took his word for it.

**End of Chapter 2**

**

* * *

**

Kari: Aaaaawww! Kitties :3

Kaidou: …

Kari: Hey, come on, this is where you're supposed to talk or comment about the chapter and stuff.

Kaidou: I have nothing to say. I just want it taken down. Immediately.

Kari: Oh don't be that way…..if you won't talk we'll have to invite Momoshiro

Kaidou: No! Why him!

Kari: He's the only regular that appears nearly as much as you in the series.

Kaidou: So? Why not someone like Saki.

Kari: Cuz Saki's all shy and stuff. Something makes me think she wouldn't be inclined to talk….Momo on the other hand….

Kaidou: Fshuuu. Fine, I'll talk, if only to keep _him_ from coming. But I don't like it. *glare*

Kari: *inwardly* _darn. Figures Kaidou would be difficult to have a conversation with. *sigh* Poor Saki. She's going to be in over her head in the next few chapters….hm… *_idea*.

Kaidou: What were you inwardly dialoging with yourself about?

Kari: *sob* A-all I wanted was to talk to you. It's been s-so long since we talked last, but you just act like you hate me…*cries*

Kaidou: _Oh God…._ Um…sorry. I don't hate you. I'll talk more next time, ok? Just not with Momoshiro.

Kari: *brightens up immediately* Ok! 8D We're gonna have so much fun.

Kaidou: …..Did I just get….tricked?

Kari: Haha, he who cannot handle woman tears will be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to me D

Kaidou: Can we just wrap this up?

Kari: Oh right. Well… *ahem* Stay tuned folks! Rate and comment or I will do something despicable like killing off Saki or turning one of the characters into a homosexual.

Kaidou: YOU WOULDN'T.

Kari: D are you willing to bet on that?


	3. Chapter 3

**Tennis no Mamushi**

"**The Viper of Tennis"**

**Chapter 3: Can the Booming Boomerang Snake Beat the Beat?**

**Setting: Episode 16-17**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. If I did then very obviously I would make Kaidou the main character. Thank you.

* * *

"You're up next sempai," Echizen said.

_Tch_. _Thanks for the heads up captain obvious_. Kaidou thought, but it was currently a no go, the match was being postponed because of the rain.

_Typical, just my luck_.

Kikumaru was just now coming off the courts with Oishi. Their match had finished before the storm really started up. Fuji handed them towels to dry off with as Ryuuzaki-sensei came to affirm the situation with them. They would wait to see if the rain quit.

"I guess that's what they call 'skinning the snake alive'," Ryouma smirked.

Kaidou gritted his teeth. Ryouma somehow always found a way to piss him off, lots of times even more so than Momoshiro.

A couple of minutes passed and the rain still refused to cease. Kaidou could already feel the tension he'd been building up from watching the previous tennis matches subsiding.

Nothing like rain to dampen the spirits….This wouldn't do.

"Fshuuuu," he sighed. He'd have to do something to warm back up. He left the pavilion where the others had been waiting and started walking down a path between the courts, breaking into a light jog once he was out of sight of the others.

Inui's training exercises were really paying off. It took a lot of sprinting now to get him winded. He'd noticed a steady increase in his stamina and was growing accustomed to the double training schedule. He wouldn't lose shamefully like he had to that damn snotty freshman Ryouma.

Just thinking about him set Kaidou on edge. He jogged a little faster.

"Fshuuuu."

After a few more minutes the rain was beginning to let up. He headed back in the direction of the field. As he was passing the stands he noticed a familiar face. It was Saki.

"What is she doing here?" he wondered, but realizing he had no time to ponder this as his match was about to begin, he hurried back to the pavilion to grab his things.

"You're late Mr. Third Singles. Try your best," Ryouma greeted him arrogantly. Just because he had won their first match Ryouma suddenly seemed to think he was a superstar.

"I don't need mouth from you!" Kaidou snapped.

Tezuka who had been sitting quietly turned to him, "Echizen isn't your opponent, Kaidou."

"Right," he managed evenly. He couldn't let this stupid freshman get under his skin right before the match, though quite frankly between the rain and the stress and Ryouma he wanted badly to punch something right now.

About that moment the intercom came on announcing the next match.

"Singles 3. Seigaku's Kaidou. Fudomine's Kamio."

Kaidou took his place behind the net. Across from him was a dicey looking guy with rust-colored hair and slanted eyes. His hair came down partly over one eye and gave him kind of an emo look. _Whatever. _Kaidou thought. _If he wants to mess up his depth perception with some stupid hair cut then it's no skin off my back._

Presently Kamio addressed him.

"Yo, your nickname is Viper, right? It's a perfect fit for you"

Snap.

"Fshuuuuuu"

Normally this kind of jibe wouldn't get to him but circumstances had already pushed him to his irritation limit. Maybe it was all the rage he had building up already, or maybe it was just something about the annoying way that Kamio had looked at him, but before he knew what was going on, Kaidou swung his racket around right towards the emo-guy's head.

_FWIP!_

The second he realized what he'd done, he wished he could take it back, but luckily he missed. Kamio nimbly dodged out of his way by about a hairs breadth.

There was a bunch of yelling from the spectators. Kaidou thought he might have heard someone yelling at him to stop but he couldn't tell who. Surprisingly Kamio didn't seem phased though.

"You have a pretty fast swing," he said.

The referee came down to accost Kaidou for about what he'd done, but froze in place when he had the death glare turned on him. Even though Kaidou was sorry, his emotions still weren't under control.

"Kaidou!"

That voice snapped him out of it. It was Tezuka. Even though he still wore his normal mask of composure Kaidou could tell he was fuming.

"Forgive me," Kaidou muttered, addressing the referee. The guy was still a little shaken but told him to watch out.

He looked back at Tezuka. His leader had walked over to the Fudomine area and was apologizing to their captain. Now he really felt bad. _Stupid…my actions reflect on him_.

Somehow he was still as angry as ever though. _I'll make you pay on the tennis court, Kamio, or whatever your name is. _

Fudomine's guy started out serving. Kaidou thought he must be crazy approaching the net and leaving half the court open after his serve, but Kamio returned his shot with ease, costing Seigaku their first point. The same agility he'd shown dodging the racket hadn't gone away. It looked like he was dancing on the other side of the court, showing off.

Kamio smiled, "I'm in the rhythm"

_Shut up._ Kaidou thought, "I don't like it when you do that. Hurry up and serve."

This time the ball came right up his side. _Perfect_. He flexed his racket arm outwards and performed his signature "Snake Shot". _He'll never return that. _

Kamio lunged forward again in one seamless motion. Before Kaidou hardly registered what happened the ball zipped past him and out of bounds.

"Fudomine! 30-0"

Despite finding a new hatred for the emo looking punk, he was rather impressed. Most of his own team-mates (with the exception of Tezuka and Fuji) had trouble returning his Snake Shot. This guy was quick on his feet, Kaidou would give him that.

This time Kaidou hit another Snake his way, but Kamio returned it again. When Kaidou tried to hit it back, he slipped on the wet court and fell forward flat. Several more times his Snake Shot failed. If this kept up he wouldn't score a single point.

His snake shot was returned again. Shit…if he could just make it a little farther…

Kamio was smirking as if he'd already won.

Again Kaidou's fury was at the breaking point.

"Don't underestimate Kaidou Kaoru!" he yelled, lunging after the tennis ball.

Something about the way he hit it felt….wierd. As he crashed into the mud, Kaidou barely had time to see the trajectory of his shot, but everyone else did, the tennis ball flew outside the court near the net, but suddenly came twisting back on Kamio's side of the court. It just barely landed within bounds then flew into the chain link fence.

Everything went eerily quiet.

The score was now 40-15, and, Kaidou noticed, Kamio was looking at him with…surprise? Fear? Whatever it was, he had forced this guy off-rhythm…

"Fshuuuu!"

Kaidou suddenly knew how he was going to win this match.

From the sidelines he heard spectators whispering. What was that they were saying though….Boomerang…Snake? Kaidou smiled. It had a nice ring to it.

Echizen looked up at him, "Eh? Nice work sempai"

_Stupid kid. I still feel like he's mocking me even when it's a compliment._

The match started up again, but Kamio managed to score another point and win the round. Somehow his serve seemed faster now.

"Fudomine leads! 1-0"

It was Kaidou's turn to serve now. _If I'm going to use the Boomerang Snake, I need to know how it works. _Learning during a match would be difficult, but it might be his only shot. Kamio returned his first serve towards the outside. Kaidou tried what he had before: a thrust with spin like a Snake shot aimed just outside the net. To his pleasure, the ball twisted around the outside like last time, but instead of landing inside of the court it missed and ended up in the back fence. Hm…this might be more difficult than he thought. The ball had to maintain the curve while still having enough of an angle to land back on the other side.

The point went to Fudomine.

The unfortunate downside was now everyone knew his first shot had been a fluke. _Tch. I'll just have to make it so it's not a fluke in the future. _

He tried another Boomerang snake. This one had more of a downward curve, but the problem was it landed too soon, just outside of the doubles marker. It was going to take extreme precision to get it just right…Maybe more precision than he had. The next serve Kaidou reverted to his regular snake shot. It was returned and he tried yet another boomerang snake.

"Out. 0-40"

Damn. He wasn't even winning his own serve. Things were starting to look grim. On top of that he was already breathing hard. Even through all the extra training he seemed to be loosing stamina fast…

_Damn it…If I could just master this shot I'd be able to defeat Kamio…_

"Game! Fudomine's Kamio! 2-0

It was now a small recess. Kaidou took the courtside bench, still buzzing with adrenaline. His mind was a haze of dread and uncertainty.

A voice he hadn't expected to hear penetrated his concentration from behind. It was Ryuuzaki-sensei.

"Your interest in that shot is boring. This match sucks. You're just swinging freely you fool. Are you so weak that you have to rely on one lucky shot to win?"

Kaidou was about to yell at her his frustration, but caught himself. She was trying to tell him something…but what?

"Kaidou, what style of tennis do you play?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

That was what felt so wrong…this wasn't his style of tennis… it was the reverse. Kamio was doing exactly what he usually did, making the opponent run left and right and tiring them out. If he could just reverse the situation back somehow…

He looked over at where Kamio was sitting across from him. The guy's feet were still moving to some sort of rhythm.

Tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap…

Was it just him or was it faster than it had been before? How long could the guy last at this rate? Was there a limit to this speed demon's stamina? He intended to find out.

When the match started back up, Kamio was still keeping up that insane rhythm, but he looked a little more haggard somehow. Kaidou's breathing had gone back to normal through the course of the intermission.

Kaidou managed to win back the next round, but Kamio always stayed a round ahead of him.

4-3 Fudomine leading.

5-4 Fudomine leading.

Kaidou truly noticed the effects of Unui's workout schedule now. Even though he was winded he could keep up a steady pace. There was a gradual change in Kamio though. His movements became more hectic. It almost looked like he was spiraling out of control, yet he continually managed to stay ahead.

Suddenly the score was 40-30, Kamio being ahead a point. One more point for this guy and he'd lose. This was one point he couldn't afford to give up.

Kamio served. The ball came flying past faster than expected. It was just out of his reach….was it?

He just managed to catch it on the edge of his racket, a feat that never would have been possible for most of his teammates. He had very long arms….

Kamio caught up to the ball and returned it…or tried to rather. The trajectory was a little too low. It hit the net.

"Deuce"

The next few minutes were heated. Every time one of them took the lead, it ended back up at a deuce. At one point Kaidou aimed a snake shot on Kamio's side and the guy didn't even go after it. He was panting heavily now. Kaidou wasn't even sweating. Finally…his strategy was working.

Still, Kamio managed to act unconcerned, "Just give up!"

"Who's going to give up?" Kaidou smirked. He returned the incoming ball with yet another snake shot.

_How! _Thought Kamio. _How is he still managing to keep going?_

_

* * *

_

Back under the team pavilion, the most of the Seigaku regulars were wondering the same thing, except of course for Inui. He read the tablet on his lap aloud.

"10 km of jogging in the morning, 10 km of jogging after club activity, 10 km of jogging at night, 3 sets of shuttle runs, 50 runs each set, 150 push ups."

"A-are you saying that's what Kaidou does every day!" Oishi asked

"Ping-pong" said Inui.

Tezuka continued looking at the court, "…More than 3 times of the original training…"

* * *

It was another deuce. There was another change with Kamio though. Somehow the crazy speed from before had doubled yet again. He approached the net to return Kaidou's ball, which was again returned with a snake shot.

Kamio barely managed to return it. Again it struck the net, this time though it flew into the air…..it was coming down on his side.

Kamio laughed out loud, "Luck's a skill too-"

Kaidou had just reached the net. Diving, he knocked the ball back on Kamio's side.

"Advantage!" the scorekeeper cried out.

"I'll never quit as long as there's a point left," said Kaidou, returning to his original positon on the court.

In several more minutes the sun was high in the sky. The sounding of the rackets had ceased.

"Game and Match! Won by Seigaku's Kaidou! 7-5!"

If Kaidou was the kind of guy to pump his fist in the air after a victory as he would have. Instead though, he gratefully accepted the bottle of water Fuji held out for him at the pavilion and took a seat with the others.

Across the court he noticed that familiar face again…Saki. For a moment it seemed like she was staring back at him, but then she turned and walked away. He hadn't spoken to her since the time in the cafeteria, though me meant to thank her for the chocolates….if he ever got around to it….

After several minutes, he was joined by Inui.

"Hey, I analyzed that around-the-pole shot, or as they're calling it, the 'Boomerang Snake'. I can prepare a training program for you. Wanna try it out when we get back?"

Kaidou inspected him suspiciously, "Is that really ok? Won't it mean one more tough opponent in the next school ranking matches?"

"It's fine," said Inui, "all for the greater good of gathering more data. I'll win next time for sure."

Stupid data style tennis. He'd beaten it before and he'd do it again. No one had better underestimate him, "I'll make you regret this for sure."

**End of Chapter 3**

**

* * *

**

Kari: Aw! That chapter was fun. 8D Not as much of Saki as I'd like, but rest assured we'll get back to her soon.

Kaidou: This was…fairly accurate.

Kari: Yep, I took a lot of dialogue straight out of the anime, but I think my little additions were nice too. Anyway, I can't wait to write the next chapter. I can already tell it'll be a blast….

Kaidou: Wha? What are you talking about?

Kari: *shows him the schedule*

Kaidou: ….No

Kari: Yeees

Kaidou: NO.

Kari: YEESSSSSS.

Kaidou: I'm begging you…

Kari: Tough luck. You'll have to do better than that to make me give up a chance like this. Stay tuned folks! And make sure to review the chapter. I swear to God it makes me write twice as fast. I'll give you a hint about the next chapter. The setting rhymes with "Minty-shoe".

Kaidou: Don't tell them that!


	4. Chapter 4

**Tennis no Mamushi**

"**The Viper of Tennis"**

**Chapter 4: The Worstest Most Terrifyingly Horrible Day There Ever Was or Ever Will Be Ever**

**Setting: Episode 22**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. On a side note, Jews may not call "The Floor is Lava". That is all.

* * *

It was 3:30 Friday afternoon. Tennis practice had just let out, and now Kaidou was beginning his usual evening jog. The other regulars had already gone their separate ways to enjoy the weekend. For him though, running had become less of a training schedule and more of a new hobby. After finishing his warm-up exercises he was ready to go.

"Fshuuuu"

He took off down the road, savoring the warmth of the sunlight and the wind through his hair. Spring was definitely the best time of the year….

Ahead of him a black shape crossed the street. It was a small cat. Mewling when it saw him, it ran in the opposite direction, crossing the street ahead.

If only he'd ever read into superstitions…maybe he would have taken a different path that day.

Instead he continued onward…unaware of the horrors that lay ahead….

* * *

Twenty minutes into his run his nose suddenly started itching and he found himself sneezing. He wiped his nose and momentarily wasn't looking where he was going.

_CRASH _

As he rounded a corner some guy on roller skates rammed straight into him, knocking him onto the ground.

Then everything started happening really fast.

As he tried to get up, Suddenly Momoshiro was there….on a bicycle. Followed closely by…that couldn't be…Kamio?

"Move away! Move away!"

_BAM_

He could feel the tire tracks on his back…

_SMACK_

Kamio catapulted over him.

Kaidou wheezed, "O-ow…my ribcage…"

Just as he managed to get back up on his feet, something that felt like a brick hurtled into the back of his neck.

K.O.d

There were suddenly footsteps pounding in his direction.

"No…no more," he groaned.

Instead of treading on him though, a woman's voice exclaimed, "Oh! My handbag!"

There was a man in uniform standing over the spot where he'd fallen.

"You! You're coming to the police station."

…..eh?

* * *

Thirty minutes later Kaidou was finally released from the precinct.

"Sorry for the trouble," the officer apologized.

"Me too," said the woman. She turned back to the officer, "Didn't I say so? The thief was on roller skates and a bit older..."

Kaidou hissed a sigh, turning to leave.

"…Not a cute kid like him," she finished.

Kaidou's face grew hot. Just what about him was supposed to be cute?

* * *

He jogged away, turning the nearest corner. The next half hour he circled laps around a small park on the outskirts of the city. Things were going well and he was enjoying himself until…

THWAP.

What was wrong with the world? Honestly, who went around throwing so many handbags! This one hit him square in the face, and before he could recover from that something banged him over the head. The next thing he knew, he was covered in sticky fizzy stuff. Yet another bandana…ruined.

"YOU."

It was the same guy on the roller skates from earlier. Chasing after him were Taka-san and Kikumaru.

"Fshuuuuuuuuuuu," he vowed to break that guy's neck if he saw him again. As it was though, he couldn't very well give chase. Something told him that he had another stolen handbag sitting in his lap.

* * *

Back at the precinct there was an old lady talking to the officer he'd seen earlier. The handbag turned out to be hers. She gratefully accepted it back from him.

"Thank you again," said the officer.

"Yes, thank you so much for returning my handbag" the lady repeated.

Wordlessly Kaidou turned to leave.

The officer carried on a conversation with the elderly woman, "These days it's rare to see a nice boy like him."

"Oh yes," the woman chimed, "Doing such good deeds, he's going to grow up to be a fine young man."

Kaidou double-timed it away. Something about other people's praise made him uncomfortable, and he didn't want anyone to see him blushing. It was completely uncool.

* * *

At this point he was beginning to wonder if it would be better to give up for today and just make up the laps later on. He honestly didn't know how much more of this he could take. Taking a side street, he headed down an alley that curved back towards his neighborhood. It led through a pretty busy part of the city. There were all sorts of small shops and restaurants that were bustling at this time of the day. One of them was the Kawamura sushi shop that was run by Takashi's father. He was about to turn the corner of the block when he recognized yet another familiar face.

No, it wasn't a Seigaku member, Fudomine member, or even the purse snatcher he was planning to murder. It was that girl from his class, Saki. She was walking down the street alone. In her hands was a small grocery bag. _She must be out shopping, _he realized. Imagine the chances of running into her….of course, they weren't exactly as slim of the chances of running into half the other Seigaku regulars, a Fudomine regular, the same purse snatcher twice, and being mauled in all of these circumstances.

She was walking just a few feet ahead of him. Ahead there was a busy intersection. It looked like she was planning on crossing. The light for pedestrians was still red. She was looking off to the side shops though, not seeming to pay attention. Before Kaidou realized what was going on, she stepped out into the intersection in front of an oncoming car.

"HEY! WATCH OUT!"

He managed to grab her arm and yank her out of the way of the oncoming vehicle which whizzed by, blaring its horn.

Everyone stopped to stare.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kaidou scolded, "Watch where you're going unless you want to end up being road-kill!"

Saki looked at him stunned, as if she hadn't completely comprehended what was going on. He suddenly realized that he was gripping her arm too forcefully and let go.

Suddenly Saki seemed to break down into her normal timid self and collapsed on the pavement crying.

_Why me?_ Kaidou sighed.

He was now also quite aware of the crowd the scene was attracting. Saki was showing no sign of stopping, but he figured the fact that there was so much going on probably wasn't helping the situation.

"Hey, come on," he said, "we're leaving." He took her by the arm and lifted her to her feet. Saki didn't resist but followed after him, still teary eyed. There was a small outdoor coffee shop around the corner that looked fairly deserted. They took a spot in a secluded part of the courtyard where there was a little table covered with an umbrella.

Saki was still sobbing and tremoring. It felt wrong to watch her when she was like this, so he turned and looked away. Somehow that seemed to make things even worse. He wanted to get away badly.

He imagined what Momoshiro would say in this situation. It would probably be something like, "Only a cowardly skunk of a man would leave a crying girl all alone."

Tch. Just thinking of Momo was enough to annoy him, but still…

"Ahem, may I take your order sir?" asked a serving girl.

When Kaidou turned his gaze on her she stiffened up. _Stupid face. It always makes people think I'm giving them dirty looks. _Saki was still bawling. The look on the waitress's face said something along the lines of "please don't make me ask her what she wants. This is making me terribly uncomfortable but I got stuck with the job of coming to this table."

Kaidou didn't want to ask Saki either, so he just ordered her what he normally got.

"Two fruit juices, please."

The waitress put on a well rehearsed looking smile. "Thank you! That'll be 400 yen. I'll have them out in a moment."

She skirted back to the shop while Kaidou went on to trying to ignore the fact that Saki had two waterfalls coming down her face and her nose was running.

_What's a guy supposed to do in a situation like this? Is it my fault she's crying? Did I hurt her? _He looked at the place on her arm where he'd grabbed. It looked a little reddish. There would probably be a bruise, but hey, that was better than being killed in a car accident, right? _I should probably apologize…will that get her to stop? _He doubted it. _Grr… think Kaidou. _This wasn't like tennis. He had no idea what he was doing.

The serving girl came by with the drinks for both of them. Kaidou took out his wallet to pay her, then she left. There were little droplets of condensation running down the two juice bottles. This gave him an idea.

He pulled out the bandana that had soft drink spilled on it from earlier. It was still a tiny bit sticky, but it was better than the sweaty towel draped over his neck. He held it out to Saki, still trying to look off to the side. She sniffed, looking at him perplexed.

"Uh…um. To wipe your face with," he explained.

Tentatively she took it, stifling her sobbing. She blew into it.

_Well, _thought Kaidou, _I guess it doesn't matter. I'm already going to have to wash it. _

The bandana seemed to be helping though. In a few minutes, she had quieted down considerably. Unfortunately the hazy look in her eyes from before was also returning. She still hadn't touched her fruit juice yet. Kaidou had almost finished his.

Now that she seemed to have calmed down, he figured it was probably the best time for his apology.

"S-sorry about your arm. And for yelling at you. I was just trying to get you out of the way of that car…-"

"No! Please don't apologize!" Saki interjected. "Please…you don't have anything to be sorry about…It's all my fault. I'm the one who's sorry….I'm so, so sorry," Saki whimpered, "No matter what I do it seems like I just keep causing problems for people. I'm so sorry. I just can't do anything right."

She looked like she was about to begin crying again.

Alarmed, Kaidou blurted, "That's not true."

Saki seemed unconvinced, "How…what can I do right?"

"Um…." Kaidou grasped for an answer. Then he remembered something, "Those chocolates."

Faint surprise played across her face, "I thought you said you didn't like chocolates?"

"Well uh…no. I mean….I don't. But I gave them to my family. My brother, Hazue, said they were the best he'd ever eaten before. He loved them. And they were so…"

_Can't say cute. Can't say cute._

"….life-like."

He thought the corners of Saki's mouth might have drawn upward a little bit.

"And uh…" he tried thinking of something else, "You're always making great grades in school. You're on student council, right? That's something special. You help out with all sorts of school activities, and even though you're usually quiet a lot of people seem to like you, unlike me."

_Whoops. Too much. I didn't mean to let that out. _

The teary look was starting to disappear though. Instead there was a new emotion in her eyes that he couldn't place.

"Thank you," Saki murmured, "For everything. That's twice you've saved me now…what can I do to thank you?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. It was nothing. You don't have to repay me in any way," said Kaidou. He was just relieved she had quit sobbing,"Well uh. Anyway, you'll be fine now, right? The juice is on me. Just make sure to look out where you're going from now on."

Satisfied that things were resolved, he beat a fairly hasty retreat.

Saki stared after him gratefully. She put down the green bandana and reached out for the juice she'd recieved. Then she remembered.

"Ah! Wait! You forgot…..your bandana…."

It was too late. He was already long gone.

* * *

As Kaidou got back to his jog, he had completely forgotten about what had been happening before he'd run into Saki. He was still wondering what exactly she'd been thinking about when she'd walked in front of the car.

_What did she mean that she couldn't do anything right? I wonder what was bothering her so much….-_

_BONG._

A tennis ball flew into his face at full speed. It felt like his nose was broken.

SNAP.

That did it. Kaidou was in rage mode now. Eyes seeming to glow red, he jumped to his feet, fuming. It just so happened that in front of him were a host of familiar faces, and one in particular he had an appointment with.

Roller-skates.

Hunched around the guy were Kikumaru and Takashi. They were saying something about him giving himself up to the police. He didn't care about though.

"Fshuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Kikumaru looked up at him, "Kaidou? Wow! You look beaten! Did you do some extra training again!"

Kaidou turned the most brutal death glare he had on the purse snatcher.

"YOU…you bastard!"

Grabbing the guy by the scruff of his shirt, he put him in a strangle hold. Kikumaru and Takashi yelled for him to stop, while trying to restrain him. For a moment they managed to separate Kaidou from his prey, but suddenly Kikumaru who had been holding him back let go.

He made to punch at the asshole, but Takashi grabbed him and tried running away.

"GET BACK HERE KAWAMURA!"

Kaidou lunged and managed to knock the guy out of Takashi's grip.

"You've got nowhere left to run now!"

He lifted his fist into the air.

Somewhere, a black cat meowed.

**End of Chapter 4**

**

* * *

**

Kari: Yaaay! I had fun writing that chapter. Methinks it's starting to get spicy with Saki, huh?

Kaidou: What are you talking about? I just kept her from getting killed and then sat around while she cried her eyes out.

Kari: Exactly! Classic damsel in distress meets hero syndrome.

Kaidou: What! You mean you've been threatening her life just so we'd talk to each other?

Kari: Well when you say it that way it makes it sound kind of horrible.

Kaidou: THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS!

Kari: Oh fine, fine. Stop acting like it's a big deal. No one got hurt did they? But I'm not planning on threatening anyone's life in the next chapter…except maybe yours, but that's Inui's fault, not mine.

Kaidou: Oh no…please tell me you don't mean what I think you do…

Kari: Bing-Bong. Setting for the next chapter is episode 23. Prepare to taste Inui's Delux Juice! Stay tuned folks!

Kaidou: I change my mind…please just kill me off.


End file.
